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Jiang Zhu Taisu's Beginner Capture Quest

Wooden kayak pierces through the harsh waves. Black clouds hang overhead. The two men thrust their arms in unison as they paddle the boat farther out into the deep sea. Behind them a large trade ship towers over them. Slowly floating in the opposite direction. A small crowd in well dressed clothes watches over the trio inside of the boat.

"Aye, lass." The man at the front of the small boat turns his head to Jiang Zhu Taisu in the center. Her red hair is damp from the raging waters around them. Large muscular arm shoves a spyglass into her lap then goes full force into rowing. "Ahead, do you see that there white bird?" The man rowing behind Jian shouts at the top of his lungs. The roaring waters contesting against the two men over who can be the loudest.

Against the darkening sky a white dot appears! The speck of white soars in a circular motion on the horizon. With a closer look it isn't just any small speck of white, its a Wingull! As their eyes meet the bird, fog begins to appear.

The man in front points. "Keep an eye on that bird! That's where we need to go!" Large beefy finger launching into the sky towards the Pokemon. Behind them, the large ship disappears. As they look ahead of them though, a wide bluff pierces the fog. Black stone braves against the harsh waters of the Squall. Alone it stands, and alone it will stay.

The Wingull slowly spirals down until it is within talon's reach of the rock. The bluff towers high, looming over the blackened seas. "Can you still see the bird, lass? Where it lands will show us the way up."

A lone bird guides weary travelers to a mass of land. While it is quite like others on the outside, inside is a different story. To become strong, one must understand the world around them.

Jiang could feel the eyes of the passengers as they sailed away into the fog. They were on her, only her, for although Squall Kua was known for colorful characters of all sorts, Jiang Zhu's bright red hair, though matted now and bleached by salt spray, made her instantly recognizable. The people all knew her, and they all agreed: she was a recluse, no better than an outsider, and they certainly treated her like one.

She wasn't sure where they were going. Though Jiang had lived in Squall her whole life, she spent most of it in isloation and wasn't familiar with many places by name or purpose. She had seen the interiors of small river caves, tended a small nearby berry orchard. Or more recently, she'd seen the decks of many ships and the harbors of many islands, but she never was allowed to disembark. Jiang was to remain aboard at all times until she earned her "sea legs," or so she was told.

Nor did she know why they were navigating by Wingull, a Pokémon infamous for getting blown off course in the sudden gusty winds of Squall. Why wouldn't they follow a sturdier Pokémon if they couldn't navigate by a landmark or a star? If they had to take such a small vessel on the open water, they could at least use a Pelliper to guide them. Maybe this was a test of the Wingull's skill and bravery? Or maybe this was Squall's way of getting rid of her.

But those things didn't cross Jiang's mind. All that mattered to her was that this was her job, a task where finally she wasn't being overlooked! It was the perfect chance to demonstrate her own skill. Jiang squared her shoulders and set her jaw, just like she had learned, but her hands still shook as she lifted the spyglass to her eye.

"Steady as she goes!"

A chill fell over the tiny vessel when they sailed beneath a shadow of the cliffs, but Jiang just scowled in determination. Although ocean wind made her damp hair whip and cling to her face, she kept the spyglass trained on the Pokémon. She was going to be the best damn navigator they'd ever seen.

"Because it's always been this way" should never be an excuse to maintain a broken system.

To challenge your own strength is always the best way to test yourself The canoe rocks back and forth, waves roaring. With every stroke of the men's oars, the waves fight harder. Black water launches into the canoe. The man in front turns back the other two with wide eyes. Bald head drenched in water, bushy eyebrows raised up. This man is terrified.

"Uh oh," He yells above the crashing waves. Looking up, the bluff that they were near had disappeared. All that was left around them was the thick coat of fog. "That bird-" the waves cutting him off, crashing into the boat. He takes his large hand and holds it to the side for balance. "It's our key to that island, kid!" He panics as the oar is tugged from his grasp by the water. Torso launches forward at incredible speed, attempting to get the oar. He stares into the depths of the ocean. After a moment, a loud KERPLUNK booms from behind the wall of noise. A few feet away is the oar, rising up from the water.

The man looks to the back of the canoe. In the back, the other man tries to use his oar to grab the other one. No luck. They both stare at each other through Jiang. The man from behind swallows. "Lass!" He nods his head to the oar in the water, slowly floating away. The man in back then drops the oar into her lap from behind. The canoe tilts violently back and forth. "Think you can reach that oar for us?"

The man in front grimaces. "She'll be swallowed up whole if she reaches out there!" Eyebrows now complimenting his scowl. "We need something else!" He points to that oar. "I dare say, we may have to swim to it!"

The boat tilts back and forth even more. Amidst the fog, flapping of wings can be heard, but nothing is seen. This perilous journey, this small endeavor was to prove Jiang's strength, not for her to die out here in the middle of the ocean!

The sound of a heavy splash and a sudden lurch of the kayak did manage to pull Jiang's attention away from the Wingull. She took her eye off the target and saw that one of the shiphands had dropped his oar. It was only a second until Jiang remembered her task, and hastily put the spyglass back up to her face, but it was too late. Wingull was gone, lost in the fog. She cursed under her breath as the men discussed how to retrieve the fallen paddle. Now she had failed just as much as the oarsman did.

"I dare say, we may have to swim to it!"

"You dropped it, why don't YOU..." Jiang began to holler, then paused, "wait!" She remembered the obvious: she had brought her Pokémon.

But Jiang could not reach her Pokéball. It was tied to a handmade cord she wore around her lower half, but her lower half was safely secured. Each passenger had a waterproof skirt, probably made of Spheal leather, that kept the vessel more or less water-tight. It was a necessity for kayaking on rough, open waters, but because this kayak was built for men much larger than she was, the deck met her torso just above the rib line, and she couldn't maneuver easily. Jiang hesitated for a moment, then loosened the cable around her spraydeck. If they worked fast, this could all be resolved before the choppy waves flooded the hull. She felt around her waist for the braided-reed cord, then followed it around her belly to a tied loop. With a quick tug, the knot was undone.

The Pokéball Jiang brought above deck was blue and small enough to fit snugly in her palm. Though there was no reflection on the surface of the nut, it felt oily and well-polished. Urgently, she rapped it against the deck of the ship, as if cracking open an egg.

Kwanshhh!

As the sides of the ball separated, a blue light from within shone and coalesced in the shape of her Pokémon.
"Osha-wott," the otter Pokemon called calmly. He stretched his back before checking his surroundings. Then his eyes caught and locked with Jiang's.

"Tuck!" Her brow was furrowed and her hands were in fists around the spyglass. Tuck became immediately focused. "I need you to retrieve-- that!"

Jiang's arm flew out sharply to pointed over the starboard side to the long oar drifting farther and farther away. "There's not much time, so before its too late..." she cried, pausing for dramatic effect while the men on either side of them nodded solemnly.

"Tucker, use Aqua Jet!"

The Oshawott nodded once, then dove into the water. As he met an oncoming wave, his body twisted, and the water began to corkscrew around him. Then, in a whirl of bubbles, Tucker was gone beneath the waves.

Long seconds passed.

Last edited by Truly; 01-23-18 at 12:48 PM.

"Because it's always been this way" should never be an excuse to maintain a broken system.

Water as dark as night punched against the canoe. The two men watched the Oshawott propel off in silence, holding onto the edges of the canoe for dear life. With every strong wave that came close to tipping, their eyes bulged with terror.

The frontman cleared his throat and yelled. "Hey so uh, will the little guy make it back?" He looked back with concern. The storm raged on.

The paddle floated, desperately fighting to stay above sea level. (Or rather, the best an inanimate object could do to fight against nature.) Bubbles pressed against the surface, popping quickly as waves crashed over them. The paddle twisted and turned over itself. As the Oshawott approached the violent domain of the paddle, it became quite noticable that they weren't the only two things cast out at sea. Old barrels and crates floated aimlessly around the chaos as well. A lone Mago Berry floated towards the paddle, crashing into it as waves turned. Oshawott rose from their spiral, the paddle was in sight!

Barrels and other clutter left behind by man began to circle the area. The waves at first seemed to calm, but on closer inspecting, there was a pulling sensation from the water towards the center. The sound of flapping wings could be heard faintly overhead. The storm raged on.

Hi there, OOC here. I'm having some trouble telling what's going on in some parts. For instance, I didn't realize it was storming until this post-- indeed, you didn't mention it until this post, but then said "storm" several times. Does that mean it's raining?
Also was the bird supposed to have landed in the first post? I didn't pick up on that, it seemed to be continuing. But it's making some pretty heavy wingbeats to be able to be heard over waters so rough that everybody has to shout. So maybe that was my key to the next scene, and I just missed it accidentally.
Anyway, I feel like the split between "Player Knowledge" and "Character Knowledge" is tipped in the wrong direction. Usually as a player, you withhold information from your character that they wouldn't know. But right now, I feel like Jiang has a much better understanding of where they're going; the action going on around her; the setting of the RP so far; than I do! If I were simply reading the story it might be suspenseful, but as I'm meant to be writing as well, I'm finding it frustrating instead. The cold open kind of caught me off guard and I never fully got filled in the situation.
Nonetheless, thanks for sticking with it.

The storm had lulled-- but now it was rising again, surging back. Oshawott had surfaced on the other side of the oar, but now they were subtly swirling in a whirlpool where the currents met and made a vortex of water full of flotsam. It had collected new debris, the oar was no longer alone.

Jiang leaned over the side of the boat and beckoned wildly. "Hurry! Grab it and Aqua Jet back!"

Tucker flipped backwards and dove again into the rushing water. He was only gone for a moment this time, then be burst forward from the waves and headbutt the paddle. They traveled quickly forward together in an arc, riding a glob of water that seemed to water siphon from the larger whirlpool into the air. It was like a miniature hurricane, (with a berry caught up in the funnel,) and it sprayed water to all sides, showering the already wet canoe crew.

The helmsman's oar fell on just the other side of the boat from the whirlpool, with Tucker plonking in close behind. When he broke the surface once more, he clung to the oar and let the waves knock them into the boat. The man could reach down and pull it up himself, and when he did, the Oshawott scrambled and hoisted himself out of the cold water to stand on the deck again. Despite everything, Tucker really was an incredible swimmer. He shook, spraying the crew again with whatever hadn't rolled off of his oily back when he climbed out of the sea. They hardly noticed.

Jiang had difficulty pulling her eyes away from the whirlpool. It seemed like it was slowly gaining speed-- but in reality, they were simply being pulled closer to the center. Breaking her gaze was made easy when one of the large waves broke over top of the vessel, splashing them all again.

Jiang scolded the other crewmen. "We're going to have to-- ugh, there's no way you can row out of this!" She turned to her Pokemon. Tucker was bent, leaning over the edge of the canoe, pawing in the water to scoop out a Mago Berry on his Schallop.
"Wott?"

"We need to--" Jiang looked up in the direction of the sound of distant wingbeats, then over at the whirlpool quickly altering their course.

This was going to be risky.

"Tucker, we have to get out of the whirlpool! And we need to get out of this storm! Use Surf!"

Tucker looked where she was pointing, but to no avail-- ahead of them there was only mist and storm. He exhaled sharply and closed his eyes, gathering his focus, then his tail began glowing dimly, muted by the fog. Rivulets of water began to pull away from the current and change direction as Tucker channeled the power of the sea. He was inexperienced, true, but some mastery over water was simply in his nature.

The canoe rocked now in the opposite direction from before, as the Oshawott's power produced increasingly larger and larger waves. They were not so much single choppy breaks of water as they were new currents that pulled in water of their own, and as the effect grew stronger, and Oshawott's tail grew brighter, the Surf sucked in more and more water from the area to push the canoe farther from where they started. Tucker braced himself on all-fours, and Jiang and the crew were forced to grip the deck, too, lest they lose their balance and capsize the craft-- or in Jiang's case, be thrown from it. The canoe began pitching forward on a wave that had grown so big that other waves were rolling into it and sustaining its strength.

"To safer waters!" Jiang shouted, but between the crashing of the storm around them, and the swelling roar of the Surf at their backs, nobody could have heard.

"Because it's always been this way" should never be an excuse to maintain a broken system.

Aaaah! So first off, I'm like, really sorry I botched the opening. I'm not gonna go on too much and be like I did so because "X" cause we can't do much about it now. All I can say regarding that is that the last post I did was very much a "Okay, I need to get the ball rolling with some semblance of an objective for the player"

for the rest of the RP, it should go better in that regards.

Wingull. Now, I'm making its movement vague on purpose. Yes it was on land, but as I've stated there was fog. My flaw here, is the lack of communication regarding this. I did not give more sensory hints to its location throughout the last posts or so regarding its movement. I mainly wanted to use it going to the mass of land to hint at where you would be going. And understandably so, I messed up that aspect.

Rainwise, I never said it was. Stormy waters exist. Black waves are usually seen as a sign for this. Storms happen at sea without downpour of rain. BUT maybe I should have done a better job of making sure you as the player understood this.

TLDR: When I started this RP, a lot was going on for me that caused me to botch your opening, which I will openly take responsibility for. Trying to fix that now, with the previous post.

Also!!! Thanks so much for the feedback and communicating these issues! Really glad you didn't just stay quiet. Please continue to do this if there are issues.

"Lass!!" The man up front shrieked. "My boat!" Eyes bulged out as the waters lifted them higher. The canoe launched forward, the chaos and loose fragments of crates and other old boat paraphernalia were swallowed by the newly formed wave. The man in back cackled as they soared off. The disruption of water brought a clean poof of air into the atmosphere. Oshawott's blue wave shined against the black, piercing through the fog like a knife.

The whirlpool roared behind them, the sound of wings was closer than ever. The fog still hung over the sea, vision from the boat shifting as black waves shot outward at them, like snakes lunginh at their foe. In the distance, fading in and out of the fog like a phantom was the large mass of land from before.

The man in back clapped. "There it is again!" Hands were thrown onto Jiang's shoulders. "When we get there, you'll see why it was all worth it!" His energy was soothing, warm. A contrast to the harsh waters. "Something as beautiful as what lies in there..." He took one hand off of her and pointed his meaty hand to the stone phantom. "Will change ya, especially someone looking to become strong."

The man up front was still muttering to himself as the wave continued to launch them forward. The sight of land poked through! Both men's faces lit up now as they both looked at Jiang. "Once we get there, we promise, it'll be worth it."

A bird's screech was heard overhead. Feathers fell atop their heads as white figure shined through the stormy sky. It was the wingull! It swooped down, talon waving at the boat, but missing. Doing a twirl with its small wings, it came in again, almost grabbing the berry from the Oshawott's clutches.

The man the back swatted his oar at the air. "Can you fight him here?" Another swing. "If not, get us to land! This thing isn't gonna leave us alone as long as you have its food! We can keep it busy!"

"Something as beautiful as what lies in there will change ya, especially someone looking to become strong."

"Once we get there, we promise, it'll be worth it." The stress on their faces slipped away, like a wave into the sea.

Jiang stared forward as a silhouette of land finally broke through the fog, but upon receiving congratulatory shakes and reassurance, she finally let slip a smile and a sigh. After that, she thought,

"It better be!" She continued her thought out loud.

The wave they were riding was losing strength, but Tucker was still straining with his head down to maintain the artificial current. She reached and patted her Oshawott on the head. Surprised, Tucker recoiled from the touch, but then came to his senses. "It's alright, Tucker. Look!" Tucker looked onward toward land with the rest of the passengers in the canoe, but he tried to act stoic, just like his Trainer had. He let his Surf recede, and the glow and clear water fell back away like waves, too.

That's when they were ambushed by the Wingull.

"Waugh!"

Jiang grasped the cockpit to recover her balance, and Tucker scurried to the bow of their craft, then pivoted off the captain to face their attacker. The Mago Berry was still held closely to his chest with one limb.

"Can you fight him here?"

Once the initial surprise had passed and Jiang had righted herself, she cackled at the situation. Oshawott's bristling hackles and high-pitched growling was cute, but that wasn't what she laughed about. Nobody could know what she was really laughing at.

They trusted her.

Maybe it was because their lives were put in her hands and she'd come through, but somehow these two men had been already been convinced. They were relying on her-- they needed her. And it made her feel powerful.

Taking advantage of the mobility of being untied from the canoe, Jiang dove below deck to retrieve a canvas bag. It was plain, like many things she carried, and now soaked with seawater that had flooded into the boat through her cockpit. Tucker continued to bare his teeth at the Wingull flying overhead while his Trainer fished through the sack. Finally, as the bird was coming around to make another pass at the crew, Jiang produced another berry from her bag. This one was green and consisted of four large cells and a thick, woody stem. Jiang gripped it a little too tightly and the waxy skin tore. Clear juice burst out from around her fingers and ran down her elbow. A complex scent, strong enough to be whiffed from an airborne position, came from the berry: distinctly fruity without being overly sweet. Jiang stood up in the boat.

"You want some of this," she shouted to the bird over the receding chaos of the sea, "come and get it!" Jiang beckoned to the Wingull with her free hand, which then fingered another empty, hollowed nut tied to her belt. She felt confident, like all of Onmyo was hers, and as she challenged the hungry Pokemon to take the Lum Berry from her hand, she spoke to the crewman in the stern of the canoe.
"You don't have a Pokemon, do you, mate? Just bring us in. I'll take care of this."

She and the wild Pokemon locked eyes for a moment, perhaps in understanding. Jiang braced herself for the next pass, ready to bonk the Wingull with her Apricorn when it came in to fight her for her Berry.

"Because it's always been this way" should never be an excuse to maintain a broken system.

The man up front cleared his throat. The boat rocked back and forth as Jiang stood up. Waves splashed around and into the small cockpit. The man in the beginning pressed his knees to his chest. A hand rested on his shining head.

"Just bring us in. I'll take care of this." She shouted to the two men. They both smiled. Both clutching oars, trying to hide their fear of the bird they could barely see. Strong scent of salt and stone whisked through the air. The air was thick here. Not just the fog that loomed desperately around them, but humidity clenched the air now. Everything was now damp.

Stones began to jut out of the water. Water crashed against them. The ocean became rougher as the waves bounced off of one another
fighting for dominance. Finally, the island was in their sights again. It towered above them. Cracked stone walls lead to small abodes for even smaller pokemon. The fog seeped in and out of the island. There was no place that could be considered a shore, except for a small flat rock that lead to many other rocks, that crept deep into the darkness of the stone island's mouth.

Wings flapped, whistling as they pierced the air. In a blink of an eye, the Wingull was flying towards Jiang! Its eyes were set on the berry in her grasp. Small talons pointed outward in an attempt to clutch it tightly. Its eyes swirling with hunger.